Chair Cassidy Delivers Remarks During Hearing on AI’s Impact on American Families, Workers

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, delivered remarks during today's hearing on the effects of artificial intelligence (AI) on American families and the workforce.

Click here to watch the full hearing.

Cassidy's speech as prepared for delivery can be found below:

The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions will please come to order.

Everyone here, everyone watching on C-SPAN is impacted by artificial intelligence. AI is transforming not only how we work and learn, but how we live.

We're already seeing AI improve our health care system. It's enhancing clinical trials to accelerate the discovery of new cures, improving quality of care by reducing administrative burden, and lowering overall health care costs for all.

Last week, the Trump administration dedicated $50 million to AI research in NIH's Childhood Cancer Data Initiative - accelerating breakthroughs and giving hope to children fighting cancer. The FDA is also integrating AI into its clinical protocol reviews, reducing the time needed for scientific evaluations and getting safe treatments to families faster.

Beyond health care, AI can help teachers personalize their students' education to meet their unique needs. Businesses are implementing AI in the workplace to attract, hire, and retain high-value workers. Additionally, investment advisors are using AI to better tailor product offerings to maximize savings for Americans.

AI holds enormous potential to improve people's lives, but it carries risks. At last month's Judiciary Subcommittee hearing chaired by Senator Hawley, parents testified about how their children were exploited by AI platforms. I'd like to submit for the record the testimony of Megan Garcia, who said her son, "spent his last months being manipulated and sexually groomed by chatbots," before he took his own life. This is heartbreaking and unacceptable.

That is why Senator Hawley and I wrote a letter to developers calling for stronger safeguards to protect children from harm. I look forward to working with him more on this effort.

With regards to the workforce, there will be disruption, no doubt. But it does not have to be a bad disruption. Although some jobs may be lost to AI, many predict that AI will create even more jobs. To prepare for this, we need to make sure Americans are trained with tools to stay competitive in a 21st Century AI economy.

Government should not stifle innovation in AI, but it should absolutely make sure that privacy is protected, that families are protected, that children are safe and that there are safeguards in place between AI and workers. A one-size-fits-all approach will not work. But something is needed.

I look forward to working with my colleagues on bipartisan solutions to address these challenges.

I appreciate all of our witnesses for being here to discuss how we accomplish this goal.

With that, I recognize Senator Sanders.

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